


Out Beyond the Dune Sea

by Galactique



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Drama, Enemies to Friends, Friendship, Gen, Loneliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-27 04:44:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9965807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galactique/pseuds/Galactique
Summary: Obi-Wan and Maul come together, not to fight, but to heal from old wounds.





	

The desert is many things to Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

Harsh, yet beautiful. Tumultuous, yet serene. 

Lonely.

The desert is his only friend. It is here on the windswept dunes, craggy cliffs, and in the narrow canyons that he can forget the past for a while. The land wraps him in its scorching embrace as a breeze blows sand around his body. The suns burn from a deep azure sky and dip below the horizon as the darkness chases the fiery orange skies away. The nights are cold and Obi-Wan’s dreams are filled with torment. But, the suns rise, telling him that everything would be okay.

Day after day.

Year after year. 

Obi-Wan never loses hope. He always believes in a brighter tomorrow. But, he often wishes that he wasn’t so isolated. He needs someone to talk to…someone who can truly understand. Sadly, his wish is impossible. Everyone from his lifetime is either in hiding or long dead. He has no one. 

But, all of that changes one sweltering afternoon as he strolls along a flat, empty stretch of land. 

He sees a figure approaching him, hazy and shimmery in the broiling air. Obi-Wan is overcome with a familiar presence…one filled with pain, anger, and fear. But, he is not afraid. Not this time. 

He keeps walking forward, back straight and eyes fixed on the figure until they both come to a halt within meters of eachother. Everything is silent. Only the Twin Suns are here to witness their interaction. 

Except for his sleek cybernetics and slightly more hollowed cheeks, Maul really looks the same as he did when Obi-Wan first fought him so many years ago on Naboo. His striking scarlet and black patterning and gleaming yellow eyes haunt Obi-Wan’s dreams on a regular basis. 

They stare at eachother. 

***

“I cannot help you.” 

Obi-Wan’s voice is as soft and calm as the breeze that starts to sweep across the sand, but Maul’s fierce anger grows as he glares at the apathetic Jedi. He clenches his fists, digging his sharp nails into his palms so hard that they draw blood. It is all he can do to stop himself from choking some sense into the foolish man. 

“Coward. Worthless, miserable coward!” Maul hisses. 

He had traveled all of this way to Tatooine, wandering for hours until he found Kenobi. And now, even after explaining his deepest concerns and desires, Obi-Wan wouldn’t even give them a second thought. 

Maul is desperate, maddened. His last chance of defeating his enemies is slipping through his fingers. If Obi-Wan won’t fight, then who will? Why was he led here? 

“Surely you can deal with your Sith problems without me,” Obi-Wan says, giving an amused chuckle. 

Maul’s last fragment of control disappears. 

He unclips and ignites his lightsaber, slashing the ground as the sand melts under the onslaught of his crimson blade. Obi-Wan jumps back and prepares for a confrontation as Maul lets out inhuman, blood-curdling screams of rage and pain, but Maul eventually sheaths his weapon and falls to his knees in defeat. He clutches his horns and trails off into pitiful ramblings. 

“I’m not a Sith,” Maul mutters. “Not a Sith. No…” 

He flinches when Obi-Wan lays a hand on his shoulder.

“Your quest for revenge will only lead to more suffering,” Obi-Wan says gently. 

Maul wrenches away and gets to his feet. “My life has always been about suffering. Why stop now?”

“Maul---” 

“I WILL kill Sidious and Vader!” Maul says, his voice rising. “With or without you, even if I die trying.”

And with that, he runs off across the barren wasteland, a newfound spark of determination glowing inside of his weary soul. 

***

A long time passes and Obi-Wan doesn’t cross paths with Maul again. Part of him is relieved that his enemy might have finally been killed after so many years. Part of him is sad that Maul’s life was about pain, misery, and violence until the bitter end. And another part of him suddenly feels even lonelier when he realizes that one of the last remnants of his past life is dead and gone. 

And so, Obi-Wan is shocked when he is out enjoying nature as usual and sees a figure slowly ambling toward him. He walks forward, shaking his head in disbelief as they draw closer.

He isn’t quite prepared for what he sees. 

A skeletally thin Zabrak with broken horns, nasty scars, and mangled mechanical legs struggles to stay upright in front of him. 

“Kenobi,” Maul says, fixing his unfocused gaze on Obi-Wan. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t fight forever.”

“Then don’t,” Obi-Wan says quietly. He steps forward and carefully wraps Maul’s arm around his shoulder, not wanting to jostle any injuries. With a supportive arm around Maul’s waist, Obi-Wan slowly guides him forward. “Don’t keep going down that path. Find peace in your life, Maul. Let me help you.” 

How strange it is to feel the upper part of Maul’s cybernetics knowing that he caused that life-changing injury all of those years ago. 

***

It would be wrong to say that the two of them ever fully heal from their old wounds. 

Maul’s scars run deep. The pain of being torn away from his mother and brutally molded into a living weapon is something that will stay with him forever and ever. He will relive the deaths of his mother and brother, the two people he actually loved, until the day he dies. If only he had been stronger, faster…if only he had saved them.

And Obi-Wan’s own invasive memories plague his mind. The horrors on Mustafar. The vicious deaths of Qui-Gon and Satine. The faces of his countless fallen comrades during the Clone Wars. If only he had done more to help Anakin. If only he had pulled him from the darkness. If only he had just listened to the troubled young man more often. 

Regret is a poison, but together, Obi-Wan and Maul find some inkling of peace. 

“You know, I barely remember the duel on Naboo,” Maul says. He and Obi-Wan are sitting by a dying fire under the stars. Obi-Wan stirs the embers as sparks drift up into the night. “I was raised for very specific purposes: to hunt and kill. Once the fight started, that’s all that mattered. I was going through the motions. I didn’t care who you were or why you were there…I just needed to kill you.” 

Obi-Wan is a little taken aback. During their time together, Maul has avoided talking about the violence he inflicted on Obi-Wan and his friends. And now, he is finally opening up. 

“My whole life was dedicated to that purpose,” Maul continues, gripping his patellar plates and staring at the fire. “And now look at me. What do I have to show for it?” 

“The dark side takes and takes,” Obi-Wan says, “Anakin, Dooku, Savage, you…”

“Without mercy, without remorse,” Maul says. He folds his arms across his bare chest and shivers. It isn’t until Obi-Wan fully turns and studies him closely that he realizes Maul is crying. 

Maul has never displayed this level of emotion in front of him. Obi-Wan is briefly unsure of how to respond, but then he remembers the many times he comforted Anakin, Satine, and his other dear friends throughout the years. It has been so long. 

He pulls Maul into a hug. 

At first, Maul resists, panicked by the strange action, but soon Obi-Wan feels his body relax in his arms. 

***

One morning, Maul announces that he wants to travel to Dathomir for a while. Obi-Wan packs him some things and wishes him luck on his journey.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Maul asks. 

“My place is on Tatooine. I’ll be here when you come back,” Obi-Wan says. He pauses for a moment. “May the Force be with you.” 

Maul smiles. 

***

When Maul returns several days later, he is eager to see Obi-Wan. After so long, he has finally gathered the courage to say something very important to him. His hearts beat wildly and he’s nervous, but it must be done. He only hopes that Obi-Wan will accept what he is about to say. 

He clutches an intricate talisman hanging on a rope necklace around his neck. He made it back on Dathomir and was going to give it to Obi-Wan. But, when he arrives at the house, everything is silent. Obi-Wan is nowhere to be found. 

Maul paces around. He sits on his sleeping mat in the front room. He dozes off a few times. He waits. 

And waits.

And waits.

Hours become days. Days become weeks. Weeks become months. 

Maul wanders around the desert, searching for the old Jedi. He watches the suns cross the sky over and over. He gazes at the stars on those cold nights, an overwhelming feeling of loneliness washing over him. Soon, he loses track of time altogether. Everything blends into an endless stretch of emptiness. 

One day, he finally lays his gift on Obi-Wan’s blanket. He stares at it for a moment, thinking of those unsaid words, and then he departs.


End file.
